Artful Copy
by AgentGabs
Summary: Beckett and Castle investigate a series of murders that has drawn the attention of two former FBI Agents. With their help will Beckett be able to catch the killer before more women are brutally murdered? AU, established Caskett.


An Artful Copy

Disclaimer- I do not own Castle or The X-Files. But if I did, it would be awesome.

Author's Note- You do not have to have watched The X-files to understand what's going on in the story. Also this takes place sometime in the future, Castle and Beckett are together and there is no shadowy conspiracy of her mother's murder floating over their heads.

* * *

Day One

Charlie had always laughed at her insistence at staying the night at her place rather than his, but after the events of this morning Susan was sure that he would never laugh at her again, this might even be the much needed push for him to move in with her rather than play this ridiculous game of apartment hopping they had been playing for the better part of a year.

These thoughts rushed in and out of Susan's head as she sat in the back of the ambulance, watching as the police taped off what they were now calling a crime scene. Nothing was wrong with Susan, she wasn't hurt, but the paramedics insisted on checking her out, something about latent shock setting in.

That morning, as Susan always did, she went out for a run. She loved the feeling of the cold morning air rush in and out of her lungs as she concentrated on her feet pounding the pavement under her, and it was in that haze of concentration that she missed what was on the ground in front of her as she turned the corner into a back-alley shortcut, back to Charlie's apartment building. As she turned the corner, her footing slipped on something wet and sticky, and it was as she fell to the ground that she saw what she had stepped in.

Susan shuddered at the memory, wanting nothing more than to crawl back into bed with Charlie, forget what she saw that morning. She just wanted to restart the day.

Susan sighed, leaned forward and rested her head in her hands. If only she had insisted harder for them to stay at her place last night, she wouldn't be in this situation now.

* * *

"Keep dreaming Castle, because that would and will never happen." Detective Kate Beckett replied to her partner as they exited her Crown Victoria.

Kate didn't wait for his answer and just continued to walk over to the roped off crime scene waiting for her, but she had to admit to herself that the idea of going undercover as his wife in order to smoke out a ring of human traffickers did sound a little appealing, regardless of how far-fetched it sounded.

"Aw come on Beckett, I think you'd look great as a blonde." Rick Castle said with a smirk as he caught up with her. "Plus, you're almost on your way there." He continued as he reached up to tease the ends of her hair, pointing out the sudden appearance of blonde highlights.

"Trading hair tips Castle?" Detective Javier Esposito asked as he walked up to the two.

"Morning, so what do we got?" Kate asked before Castle could begin his story again on how Vice could one day need them to go undercover.

"ID was found near the body. The victim's name is Elizabeth Valdez, a 22 year old student at NYU. She was found this morning around 6 by a one Susan Clemmins while out jogging," the Hispanic detective began to read off the note pad in his hands. "She's still being checked over by paramedics, and Lanie is with the body."

Kate nods her head, "Thanks. See what you can get out of Ms. Clemmins, we'll see what Lanie's got for us."

Kate continued to walk towards the crime scene, Castle still beside her. She could tell that he wanted to continue their conversation from earlier in the car, but the sight of the body stopped the two in their tracks.

Lanie was bent over the body, examining the woman's head, or at least what was left of it.

"Lanie? What-" Kate kept looking from the body to her friend, unsure where to begin in her questions.

Dr. Lanie Parish stood to meet the detective and writer, the look on her face grim. "From what I can tell she was killed by a blunt force trauma to the head. The rest was all done post-mortem, but I won't be able to tell for sure until I get her back to the morgue."

Kate continued to stare speechlessly at the body, not quite believing what she was seeing. Castle slowly started to move away from the crime scene. In the 4 years shadowing Detective Beckett, he had come across some gruesome murders and scenes, but this was enough for him to actually want to back away.

Detective Kevin Ryan walked up to Kate, folder in hand. "CSU's finished their initial sweep of the scene. Once Lanie get's the body back to the morgue they'll be able to determine just exactly happened here." The look on the young detective's face echoed what everyone was feeling or thinking after seeing the body.

The four looked out over the crime scene, not quite sure what to make of it. The body of the young woman was laid out, naked. Her limbs- the remaining two were spread as if reaching out for something. Her chest had been cracked open, and what remained of her organs were scattered around her. All the hair from the woman's body had been hacked off and there were sections in which the skin had been peeled back, also missing from the body.

A wave of nausea coursed through Beckett and for the first time since she had been a rookie Kate Beckett fully lost her composure at a crime scene.

* * *

Kate sat at her desk, eyes closed for a few seconds, her breathing deep. She had never gotten sick a crime scene since becoming detective, but considering the circumstance no one chided her for doing so.

The sudden appearance of an Orange Gatorade bottle next to her empty coffee cup brought a small smile to her face. "Thought you could use this instead of coffee," Castle's warm voice cut through her rushing thoughts. She reached over for the bottle, breaking the cap's seal and taking a deep drink. How Castle guessed that the orange flavor was her favorite was beyond her, but she appreciated his attention to detail.

"So where are we so far with the case?" Castle asks, taking a similarly deep drink from his own Gatorade bottle.

"Waiting around for information- Ryan is finishing up his interview with the witness and Esposito is still gathering information on the victim." Kate explained, downing more of the Gatorade.

"What would drive a person to do that to another?" Castle asks as he turns in his chair to view the almost blank murder board.

"I don't know bro, and I don't think I want to" replied Esposito as he walked up to the two, folder in hand. Turning to Kate, he handed her the folder and began. "The victim is originally from Tallahassee, so we're waiting on TPD to send us what they've got on her. I've also notified her family. I've got her student records as well as a statement from her employer. Her roommates should be in later today for questioning

"She worked for a mortuary?" Kate asked looking at the file.

"Yeah, as a receptionist. Her boss had no complaints about her." Kate thanked the Hispanic detective and then turned to look at the murder board. "Who did this to you" she asked no one in particular.

Esposito returned to his desk as Castle watched Kate rise from her chair to begin filling in the information on the victim on their board.

More and more information came trickling as the morning turned to afternoon. After a late lunch, and after filling in their captain on the progress on the case, they received a call from the M.E.'s office.

"You guys go ahead and call it a night," She said to her team. "I'll head over to see what Lanie has and we'll pick up on this tomorrow" Kate said as she gathered up her things. "You coming Castle?" she added with a smirk.

* * *

"Initially what killed her was a blunt force trauma to the head. Looks like it could have been done with a tire iron or something similar." Lanie was standing by the body as she pointed out the injury on the victim's head, both Beckett and Castle standing far enough away from the body but near enough to see what the M.E. was pointing at.

"And the rest-" Kate began.

"The rest was all done post-mortem." Instead of pulling the white sheet down to show the two the extent of the damage on the body, Lanie instead pulled up the white sheet to cover the woman's head and lead the detective and her shadow back over to her small desk.

Lanie reached down for a folder and pulled out a set of pictures, each detailing the extent of what was done with her.

"Whoever did this to her, did it to her after she had died." Lanie continued as Kate leafed through the pictures.

"Aside from the hair, patches of skin, and legs, the killer also took her heart, an eye, 3 of her fingers from her right arm. Her heart and a lung are missing from her chest cavity, as well a few ribs."

Castle just starred at the pictures in shock. How could someone do this to such a young woman, to anyone really? While Castle was used to killing off people in his novels, he never saw the need to brutalize his victims in such a way that one would start questioning his overall sanity, and this vicious attack on the victim had Castle questioning just that.

After putting the pictures back into the file and making sure that Lanie's report was secure inside, she gave a quick nod in thanks to the M.E. and took a breath.

Lanie could sense just how uncomfortable this was all making Kate. "Kate…" she began.

"I'm ok Lanie, just tired." Kate quickly interjected. "I'll go over these tonight so that Ryan and Esposito can make something of them tomorrow."

She started to head towards the door as she heard Lanie say to Castle. "You make sure my girl gets some sleep Castle. We don't need her burning out before this even starts."

Castle didn't say anything but nodded in understanding.

"Lanie, I'm still in the room!" Kate exclaimed, a smile on her face.

"Mmhm. I know." Lanie sassed back.

"Anyways, do you need a ride home or are you good?" Kate said, quickly trying to move the attention from her to her friend.

"No, I'm good. I've got a ride coming in a bit." She said as she started ushering the two toward the door. "Now get home and get some sleep. Something tells me this case is going to escalate into something we're not going to like."

* * *

The entire ride back to the loft had Kate's mind spinning about the case. From what she gathered from the initial sweep of the scene by CSU was that this was not a robbery. In fact her ID, as well as all of the victim's belongings and missing clothing were found nearby the scene, which to Kate, made no sense.

Lanie's report also stated that there were no signs of sexual abuse towards the victim either pre- or post-mortem.

As the cab they were riding in came to a stop outside of their building, Castle quickly paid for the cab and stepped out, turning back to see Kate still sitting inside the cab. Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't even felt the cab stop.

"Kate" he said to reclaim her attention. "We're home."

She looked up, realized that she had zoned out and made her way out of the cab. She griped his hand and they walked in silence towards the building, towards home.

Rick had come to learn over the last few years of shadowing Kate that it was in moments like these, where she was clearly lost in her thoughts, trying to connecting the dots, that he shouldn't really interrupt her. But after her initial reaction to the crime scene as well as the overall uneasiness that had more than once crossed over her features, he knew that he had to pull her mind off this case, if just for the evening.

They ate their dinner quickly and in silence, there was no need to fill the air with idle chit-chat of the day's events. And if was only after they had cleared the table and washed the dishes did Kate bring up what was bothering her most about the case.

"What did he (or she) do with Elizabeth Valdez's legs?" She said as she brought the case file to the table they had just finished eating at. "What did he do with any of what he took from her?"

"Kate, I don't think we should be getting into this right now." Rick said softly, normally he was all for playing detective and writer at home, but again the nagging concern for her caused him to try and force her away from the case.

Kate looked at Rick, his concern clear across his face. She knew he was right, with just the basics of the case currently at hand, everything they could come up with would just be speculation. In the morning, with her team, they would be able to fully investigate and figure out just exactly what happened to Elizabeth Valdez.

"You're right," she said, "and don't gloat." She quickly added before he could say anything, though she saw the smile creep up to his eyes.

"Come on Castle. Lanie said to make sure I got some rest." She said with a sly grin as she got up and headed into their bedroom. Tomorrow would be a new day with hopefully new leads for them to follow.


End file.
